Fannish rambling... and stuff.
So, I have this... theory about Bratac and I realized I've never said anything about it to anyone.
I think Bratac is gay. Gay in that whole 'Way of the Warrior', ultra-macho way. And if you need convincing all you need to do is watch his face in Threads when Daniel walks out of Jack's office wrapped in that flag. His eyes get wide, he has a *huge* grin on his face and he nods just a bit, like 'Oh yeah, now THAT's what I'm talkin' about!' The man is practically drooling. And really, who wouldn't?
A lot's been said about Jack's reaction to Naked!Daniel, but it ain't nothin' compared to Bratac's. Bratac's expression is openly appreciative and while I'm sure he's as glad as the rest of them that Daniel made his way back, that particular expression is a bit... more than simple happiness.
This sort of opens a whole avenue of speculation about Jaffa culture that sg_darkfic and I discussed a few years ago. The idea that Jaffa warriors sometimes have sex with one another and this extends into the extremely uncomfortable (and un-PC and possibly illegal) area of mentor/student relationships. For the sake of everyone's comfort levels (not the least of which is mine) let's assume that any behavior like that takes place only *after* a young Jaffa reaches the age of majority. Even at that, it's still a bit squicky, but the Jaffa are not a kind and gentle people. Well, they might be kind, but they're not gentle. Besides, that aspect of things isn't really what I'm interested in discussing anyway. I'm more interested in the relationships between adult Jaffa warriors.
I don't think it's at all unlikely that young male Jaffa might engage in sex with one another, even if they might otherwise by heterosexual. I think the term 'bisexual' isn't always used accurately in fandom. Bisexual generally means that a person is *always* attracted to members of both sexes. It doesn't really address the influence of culture on a person's choices, either.
Jaffa warriors, while fully under Goa'uld rule, were a stratified all-male society unto themselves. They seemed to be free to marry, though their 'god' may have had some say as to who they might marry, in the interest of keeping the Jaffa strong. But basically, the male Jaffa spent long periods far away from their wives, girlfriends and available females. Sure, I suppose they could fraternize with the native people of whatever planet they're on, but I would imagine that their Goa'uld overlord wouldn't take kindly to it. He wouldn't want his Jaffa to form alliances of any kind with the locals. They were viewed as not much more than animals. Inferior in every way to both the Jaffa and the Goa'uld.
In a society such as this, I would practically expect the Jaffa to spend their sexual energies with each other. After all, they were a group of (usually) young, attractive, physically fit men. I imagine their libidos were as healthy as the rest of them without even venturing into speculation about how their enhanced strength, etc., might play into it.
Which brings us back to Bratac. He appears to have never married. He's never spoken of any children and has spent much of his life training young warriors. He and Teal'c enjoy a very close relationship. They often express their friendship physically, with arm clasps and hugs. Teal'c is demonstrative with Bratac in ways that he isn't with anyone else. We also know that Teal'c is heterosexual, having had relationships with women both on- and off-world. There have been enough women that it pretty much dispells any doubt. But in their obvious closeness, I can easily believe that Teal'c's and Bratac's relationship may have once been much more.
I watched New Ground yesterday afternoon and I was reminded of the time I took the DVD, stuck it in my computer and zoomed in on the contents of SG-1's tac vests. Yeah, I get obsessive from time to time and I wanted to see what kind of stuff they carried with them. While SG-1 is in their little cages, the camera pans over the table where their gear has been spread out. Among all the pretty predictable stuff there were some small square olive-drab packets that looked for all the world like condom packets. Huh. Well, it makes sense after Jack's run-in with an intergalactic STI in Brief Candle. Not to mention that there are other uses for condoms other than the obvious.
Now, okay, I suppose they could be dose-packaged analgesics, but I don't know that they'd go with the whole olive-drab thing because it's hard to read black print on olive-drab and I figure they'd just use the manufacturer's packaging. We get those at work. Of course why wouldn't they do the same with condoms? Dunno. I just find it interesting.
While I'm on the subject, in Avalon (don't remember which part), while Vala's laying on the bed and Daniel's searching for something, he opens a small wooden box from the table next to the bed. He takes out a small foil-looking packet, shakes it, then puts it back, almost without looking at it. Also a condom packet? Kinda looked like that to me, but I could have condoms on the brain. I mean, I have no fascination for them and maybe anything of that size and shape suggests condom to me.
*shrugs*
Trust me to comment on pointless minutae of the show :)
So... that's my ramble for Saturday morning. Feel free to discuss among yourselves.
I'm going to take a 'me' day, which means I'll be checking email often and just lazing around the house. I'm reading The Cost of Honor now and I'm really enjoying it.
ETA: Scroll down in the comments to find some fabulous comment-fic from splash_the_cat!
I think Bratac is gay. Gay in that whole 'Way of the Warrior', ultra-macho way. And if you need convincing all you need to do is watch his face in Threads when Daniel walks out of Jack's office wrapped in that flag. His eyes get wide, he has a *huge* grin on his face and he nods just a bit, like 'Oh yeah, now THAT's what I'm talkin' about!' The man is practically drooling. And really, who wouldn't?
A lot's been said about Jack's reaction to Naked!Daniel, but it ain't nothin' compared to Bratac's. Bratac's expression is openly appreciative and while I'm sure he's as glad as the rest of them that Daniel made his way back, that particular expression is a bit... more than simple happiness.
This sort of opens a whole avenue of speculation about Jaffa culture that sg_darkfic and I discussed a few years ago. The idea that Jaffa warriors sometimes have sex with one another and this extends into the extremely uncomfortable (and un-PC and possibly illegal) area of mentor/student relationships. For the sake of everyone's comfort levels (not the least of which is mine) let's assume that any behavior like that takes place only *after* a young Jaffa reaches the age of majority. Even at that, it's still a bit squicky, but the Jaffa are not a kind and gentle people. Well, they might be kind, but they're not gentle. Besides, that aspect of things isn't really what I'm interested in discussing anyway. I'm more interested in the relationships between adult Jaffa warriors.
I don't think it's at all unlikely that young male Jaffa might engage in sex with one another, even if they might otherwise by heterosexual. I think the term 'bisexual' isn't always used accurately in fandom. Bisexual generally means that a person is *always* attracted to members of both sexes. It doesn't really address the influence of culture on a person's choices, either.
Jaffa warriors, while fully under Goa'uld rule, were a stratified all-male society unto themselves. They seemed to be free to marry, though their 'god' may have had some say as to who they might marry, in the interest of keeping the Jaffa strong. But basically, the male Jaffa spent long periods far away from their wives, girlfriends and available females. Sure, I suppose they could fraternize with the native people of whatever planet they're on, but I would imagine that their Goa'uld overlord wouldn't take kindly to it. He wouldn't want his Jaffa to form alliances of any kind with the locals. They were viewed as not much more than animals. Inferior in every way to both the Jaffa and the Goa'uld.
In a society such as this, I would practically expect the Jaffa to spend their sexual energies with each other. After all, they were a group of (usually) young, attractive, physically fit men. I imagine their libidos were as healthy as the rest of them without even venturing into speculation about how their enhanced strength, etc., might play into it.
Which brings us back to Bratac. He appears to have never married. He's never spoken of any children and has spent much of his life training young warriors. He and Teal'c enjoy a very close relationship. They often express their friendship physically, with arm clasps and hugs. Teal'c is demonstrative with Bratac in ways that he isn't with anyone else. We also know that Teal'c is heterosexual, having had relationships with women both on- and off-world. There have been enough women that it pretty much dispells any doubt. But in their obvious closeness, I can easily believe that Teal'c's and Bratac's relationship may have once been much more.
I watched New Ground yesterday afternoon and I was reminded of the time I took the DVD, stuck it in my computer and zoomed in on the contents of SG-1's tac vests. Yeah, I get obsessive from time to time and I wanted to see what kind of stuff they carried with them. While SG-1 is in their little cages, the camera pans over the table where their gear has been spread out. Among all the pretty predictable stuff there were some small square olive-drab packets that looked for all the world like condom packets. Huh. Well, it makes sense after Jack's run-in with an intergalactic STI in Brief Candle. Not to mention that there are other uses for condoms other than the obvious.
Now, okay, I suppose they could be dose-packaged analgesics, but I don't know that they'd go with the whole olive-drab thing because it's hard to read black print on olive-drab and I figure they'd just use the manufacturer's packaging. We get those at work. Of course why wouldn't they do the same with condoms? Dunno. I just find it interesting.
While I'm on the subject, in Avalon (don't remember which part), while Vala's laying on the bed and Daniel's searching for something, he opens a small wooden box from the table next to the bed. He takes out a small foil-looking packet, shakes it, then puts it back, almost without looking at it. Also a condom packet? Kinda looked like that to me, but I could have condoms on the brain. I mean, I have no fascination for them and maybe anything of that size and shape suggests condom to me.
*shrugs*
Trust me to comment on pointless minutae of the show :)
So... that's my ramble for Saturday morning. Feel free to discuss among yourselves.
I'm going to take a 'me' day, which means I'll be checking email often and just lazing around the house. I'm reading The Cost of Honor now and I'm really enjoying it.
ETA: Scroll down in the comments to find some fabulous comment-fic from splash_the_cat!